DREAM-ing of Immigration Reform

Websites and social media offer networks of support for undocumented or illegal immigrants in the U.S.

First introduced to U.S. Congress in 2001, the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act - or DREAM Act - is a bill that would provide residency for illegal immigrants of good moral character who graduate from U.S. high schools and have been in the country for at least five years. Last December, DREAM Act failed once again to pass in the U.S. Senate.

Social media platforms provide the means by which these youths, who call themselves Dreamers, can find each other without travelling or exposing their status. They appeal to supporters nationwide and petition en masse for extensions on deportation dates. They help garner the attention of politicians, lawyers and advocacy groups. And they get Dreamers’ stories out into the public sphere when the attention of the mass media is elsewhere.

Last week, President Obama told us on Univision that his administration was not targeting DREAM Act-eligible students for deportation. That very same day, the Department of Homeland Security sent Prerna Lal – one of our founders – a Notice to Appear for removal proceedings. When Prerna decided to enroll one of the best law schools in the country (George Washington University), she didn’t know that she would face the trial of her life barely into her second year. For those of you who don’t kn...

So the whole idea of trying to deport me is complete waste of time and money. Of course, they can just make my life really difficult with court hearings upon court hearings all the way across the country, which they are trying to do. It ends up looking like political prosecution, which is why I am more amused than afraid.